Friday, February 20, 2009

CONTEST TODAY!!! One LCB wins a copy of Kate’s hot new read, “Riding the Line,” courtesy of Kate.

From Michelle: Unfortunately, there’s none of Bella Kate Pearce's signature boy-on-boy in her hot new erom, “Riding the Line.” What RTL does have is an All-American hero-with-a-twist, a strong, sexually confident heroine whose heroes have never (before) been cowboys, and a smokin' on-the-way-to-love story you just shouldn't miss. Please offer Kate your best "Boy, Howdy, cowboy!" Bella buongiorno...

From Kate: I started young. I was five. My first T.V. crush was a bearded Australian Artist/Entertainer who played the didgeridoo, called Rolf Harris. He bore a remarkable resemblance to my dad, (as to did most of my girlhood crushes), but I think that’s pretty normal for a girl.

Rolf was followed in quick succession by Shaggy from Scooby Doo, Spock, Donny Osmond, David Cassidy and “The Virginian.” Lacking the Internet, (yes I am that old), I bought all the magazines I could find and stuck hundreds of pictures of my favorites in scrap books decorated with hearts and flowers and our combined initials. Yes, I was going to marry them all if I could!

And then I discovered books, and my T.V. crushes vied for attention with my imaginary heroes, Mr. Rochester, from “Jane Eyre,” Mr. Darcy, from “Pride and Prejudice,” all the rakish Regency heroes Georgette Heyer could write. I devoured them all and realized that they became more absolutely mine through the filter of my imagination.

So it’s not surprising that I write about cowboys and Regency Rakes is it? Staring at all those pictures, reading all those books gave me a huge database to choose from when I wanted to write my own version of romance. And I write both kinds -- the nice honorable straight-forward cowboys from the T.V. shows -- and the slightly twisted dangerous Regency men who are all my own.

So tell me, and we can be honest, here, no one will ever know. Who were your secret crushes both real and imaginary?

Sign up in the sidebar for the NEW RBTB newsletter by 2.28 for a chance 2 win a $25 Borders card!

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Authors: Wanna be a FOB? Link RBTB from your site/blog and send me your url @ mbuonfiglio@rbthebook.com. I'll link you up on the Friends of Bellas page!If you sent me your url in the past and don't see it here, I apologize! Please do send it again so I can make you a FOB.

51 comments:

Hi Kate! Lovely to have you blogging here today! Oh, childhood crushes, I had many. I remember being about 8 and we would play pretend house (we being the girls in my neighborhood), and we would all pick a pretend husband. I always, always, always chose Danny Zuko from Grease. I loved him SO much. My cousin Rhyssa was a huge Shaun Cassidy fan.

When I turned 11, my best friend Nicole, who was Australian, and WAY hipper than me introduced me to a little band I like to call Duran Duran. I took one look at John Taylor, the bass player, and fell like a ton of bricks! From then on, all of my allowance was spent on copies of Tiger Beat, Teen Beat, and any related to Duran Duran. My room was wallpapered with photos torn from teen magazines. I remember my dad walking out of my room one day, saying to me, "Kati, you realize those men have lipstick on, right?" Ch-YEAH! They're SOOOOO cool, Dad!

Good times, good times.

Anyway, your new book sounds fab, Kate! Was it weird not writing a little boy-on-boy action??

Buongiorno, Bellas! WhyWhyWhyWHy don't you use it...TryTryTryTry not to lose it... Wow, they just don't write songs like that anymore.

I forgot about your DD crush, Kati! Did any of you crush onSimon le Bon! quelle frahnsh. I remember they had lots of hair product and glittery eye shadow. Very pretty boys. I don't necessarily like to compare the fact that you were playing house when I was in college... ah well. :)

Good question for Kate. Maybe the fact that the other hot guys in this book are the hero's brothers. That's a little bent even for our Kate.

Hey, were you a George and Michael. No there's some...oh, sorry...too much, too early?

Kate! I love hearing about crushes and how we met stories. Your crush on the Aussie kid's host got me thinking about an early crush I had that I'd completely forgotten about. His name is Gene London, and he had a show out of Philadelphia. He sang and told stories and the show went through a few incarnations.

Gene left sho biz and went on to NY to design dresses and collect designer gowns worn by famous Hollywood actresses and celebrities. Perhaps my crush on him -- like a couple boyfriends -- was a trifle misguided. My sensitivity to those things heightened significantly over the years. But I just adored him and his big, soulful eyes.

Alright, since we're all going to keep this secret....My secret crush is for the animated version of Batman on the Justice League cartoon. He is so finely drawn with massive abs and his usual mysterious demeanor.

And then there's my fixation for Rick Springfield. His is the first concert I ever went to and on his last day on GH I played sick from school so I could watch. To this day I still buy each cd he puts out (he still knows how to rock) and think he still looks really hot for his age.

My real life crushes started when I was oh... all of eleven :grin: and by the time I was fifteen, I was in love with one of my friends' older brother, my karate Sensei, one of my eldest brother's friends, and a number of my cousins.

I remember Rolf Harris and his hit song "Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport." If none of you have heard a didgeridoo go to You Tube and search for Jeremy Donovan.

Anyway back to secret crushes. In junior high and high school I had a mad crush on David McCallum who played Illya Kuryakin on The Man from U.N.C.L.E. And I still have a crush on James Bond, especially in his new Daniel Craig persona. And don't get me started on Hugh Jackman. He's a new crush and I'm so excited he's hosting the Oscars Sunday night. I hope he sings and dances like he did when he hosted the Tony Awards.

I'm all worked up now and may need to go take a cold shower -- or watch Hugh on You Tube. *g*

wow, Marilyn. Kate really knows how to get you goin. I didn't realize you were a new convert to HJ.

oh, book crushes are great, azteclady. you had/have great taste. I've never met someone w/ an ellory queen crush b efore. THough I did fancy d'artagnon. friends of brothers crushes were wonderful and so bittersweet.

mog, jodi, that's so funny! cause we always think of guys as having the cartoon crushes ie jessica rabbit. I just saw rick springfield somewhere on tv the other night. wasn't he married to linda blair for a while when she was really young? i think I saw that on e! a long time ago... Good crush stories.

Okay, going to date myself here. My first crush was... Paul McCartney! Yep, I remember when the Beatles came to the US - I was so in love! (and so young!!). Paul's still cute IMHO! I too had the Mr. Rochester crush, and the Heathcliff crush, which have progressed into the BDB brothers crush and any highlander-in-a-kilt crush too!! The nice thing about book crushes is you can revisit them anytime, and the heros you love - still look just as good in your mind's eye.

Hmm... (not so) secret crushes? I think those started way back with the movie The Outsiders, based on the SE Hinton novel--the Brat Pack? or something like that? Rob Lowe, C. Thomas Howell, Matt Dillon... I did also crush on Growing Pains' Kirk Cameron ;)

lis, the nice thing about Paul's career having 'longevity' is that many generations get to crush on him! Those puppy-dog eyes. sigh. When i see photos of those boys fromt he Invasion? Holy cow. How could any girl resist? I mean, they didn't have any goop in their hair after a decade of goopy guys! And the slim clothes and British accents. Dead in the water. That's what American girls were. ANd you're right, book hero crushes rock.

lol, april m! the wiggles reminds me of kid's show host crushes I had while at home with my son when he was tiny. Anybody know the Kratt brothers? Hmmm? Peter Parker. Primo crush material, april. good work!

THat was an interesting period w/those actors. I especially remember Matt Dillon and his 'bad boy' image. Guess you'll be glued to the Oscars, too! :) and, yeah, gotta love them cowboy heroes. (sheesh, I'm havin so much trouble spelling hero/heroes today)

I was definitely a Paul girl. Too cute and the left handed thing made him the perfect bookend to John.

Funny that Monica should admit to lusting over Cary Grant & Clark Gable. After my oldest daughter saw "Singing in the Rain" she was head over heels for Gene Kelly. I didn't have the heart to tell her he was the same age as her GREAT GRANDFATHER!

Hot is hot, whatever the age. I'd still be willing to bear Sean Connery's children if I could get the DH to go for it!

Hi Kati! ah yes-Duran Duran. Simon Le Bon in those leather pants, John Taylor's hair--sigh, where have all the good looking men gone? LOL

And my cowboys have always been straight, in more ways than one-so I don't have any trouble writing them that way-the Regency Rakes are just...complicated. The two series are just completely separate in my head (luckily for my readers who might get a bit of a shock otherwise)

Hey, Bellas! Great day for our fellow Bella, Kate! Congrats, Kate.Hmmm...so many crushes. I think my first crush was Kevin Costner...ok, so he still looks ok, right? Then the star wars guys, (ok, so I'm kind of a dweebette, hehe), um, yes, Kate, The Rock is hot! Everyone thinks so, no matter what they say. All those big muscles...YUM!But, the one crush I simply can't get over is...drumroll, please...Brad Arnold, the lead singer for my all-time fave band, 3 Doors Down! OOOH! There is just something about him! I think it's the songs he writes.

Jessa, we are definitely allowed to still crush (cough cough The Rock)I have pointy ears a little like Spock-my sisters told me I was obviously an alien and I was quite cool with that idea if I was related to Spock :)

Hi Kate,Congrats on the new release. My current crushes include Eric Bana and Damian Lewis from "Life." My old Hollywood crush is Alan Ladd. I always tried to catch his films with Veronica Lake on TCM.

Hi Jane!Eric Bana is definitely cute and crushworthy, now Alan Ladd was spoiled for me by my dad who always insisted that Alan was very short and had to stand on a box to kiss all the leading ladies LOL

Well, Male Perspective Guy (MPG) might just have a male perspective on that question...

Answer: yes they do. As boys, it is a combination of TV images (Farrah Fawcett, the "pointing girls" on The Price is Right, Dorothy Hammill) and girls at school (in my case, it was Dianne Procopio, who proclaimed one summer night that "I'd go out with you but I can't stand you!")

Yes, guys have crushes, even into their adult years (can you say "Beyonce?")

Principessa? What happened to Shia? Did you throw him over for Luke Skywalker or somethin? I think every woman here over 30 just googled brad arnold...

yeah, Kate, I think lots of women dig the Rock. I think he's such a cutie, and kids seem to really likehim too. and I have a girlfriend who has a great UATW fantasy about him. He's quite a big man... I so wish my kids stilll were obsessed with professional wrestling. I miss those days. I watched a lot more tv back then...

Jessa, taking an innocent tune of childhood and twisting it into some sexual innuendo. I likes the way you think. And cap'n hot-pants is cute in a artist-formerly-known-as pretty kind of way. I think "cartoon" crushes rock. Remember what Jessica rabbit said: I'm not bad; I'm just drawn that way...

So, Emily, you're suggesting a Paul and John sammich was the fantasy du jour for a Beatles fan? I'd never thought manual dexterity in therms of right/left handedness played into fantasy, but now that you mention it, in sammiches...

Kate, that's so funny about the photo!!! I have my daughter's green card from when we adopted her in china and i forgot about the ear thing. but that photo is so precious to me. her hair is shaved all around the sides which is sometimes done w/ babies where it's really hot there, but she has on this little cute red dress. Anyway, your photo came great!

And that whole "I'd go out with you but I can't stand you" line that MPG writes about is a staple in family discussions. I may even have said, "I'll marry you , but I can't stand you..." although I can't really remember. And I wholeheartedly encourage his beyonce crush. she's got it all.

OK, speaking of crushes, I just watched the last 20 minutes of one of my fave movies of all time, "Far and Away." I did crush on TC before he got all odd. It's such a sweet movie. I didn't read romance when I first saw it or for many years thereafter. You'd think I'da made some kind of connection and got me some romances, ,no?

Oh I love all these crushes and yes Michelle, I still dig the Katt brothers.

Jodi, I'm so glad someone else had (has) a cartoon crush--my very first crush was Mighty Mouse--I would put on one of my mom's slips and her high heels to watch Mighty Mouse. I know--not only was it a cartoon, it was a different species.

I know I'm a little (OK, a lot - sorry) late, but I wanted to answer your question Kate. I so remember the Virginian. I used to watch all the cowboy shows when I was young - the Virginian, Maverick, Bonanza. As for who my secret crush was when I was young....Hawkeye Pierce from MASH :)